Railway-car.



Patented Mar. 26, |90i.

E. H. BLSSM.

RAILWAY GAB.

lApplicnton filed Fb.45. 1900.|

(llo'Model.)

llill Bf E lillll /VVE/VTH ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD H. BLOSSOM, OF ST. JOHNSBURY, VERMONT.

RAI LWAY-C'AR.

l SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 670,529, dated March 26, 1901.

Y Application tied February 5, 1900. serial No. 4,133. (No model.)

' useful Railway-Car, of which the following is a specification'.

My`invention relates to improvements in railway-cars in which a suspended platform is carried very near the track; and the ob jects of my improvements are, first, to provide a platform running very low and near the track to carry large objects, and, second, to provide means of adjusting the platform to conform to the shape of the load. I attain these obj ects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a side view of the car, showing the supporting mechanism. Fig. 2 4is a plan showing the pit or opening in the car-platform.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The car is of the ordinary platform or opendeck type, through the middle of which a longitudinal opening is made, this opening being as large as the capacity of the car will admit or the size of the load require. On top of the car platform or deck and on each side of the pit are placed the supporting-timbers or girders ffff, through which and the deck of the car pass the supporting-rods b b b b. The stirrups or trusses c o c are supported at both ends by the rods b b b andare carried crosswise of the car and also of the pit or opening.

In Fig. l the load is indicated by Ydotted lines at a as resting on these stirrups. The

lrods b b b are provided with long screwthreads and nuts at the upper ends, by means of which their lengths may be adjusted to correspond, so that each truss. or stirrup will be made to carry its part of the load. It will readily be seen that by having the load thus evenly distributed on the car it will be carried much steadier than it would otherwise. TheV supportingtimbers fff are held in place by the rods b b b only, this arrangement of fastening being for conveniencevof removal. When it becomes necessary `to remove the supporting-timbers, the carplatform can be cleared by removing the supporting-rods only, leaving the supporting-timbers free to come off and the deck of the car clear, when pieces of liooring being inserted over the opening of the pit the car becomes available for the common uses to which this class of cars is put.

The stirrups or trusses c are provided with lbracing-bars d, fastened to their under sides and extending with them across the pit.

. I am aware that pit-cars have been in use prior to my invention. I therefore do not claim this combination broadly; but

What I do claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a railway-car, the combination of a deck or floor provided with a pit or opening for carrying large articles, with adjustable supports for the same,together with the means for adjusting the supports to the load, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination in a railway-car havin-g a central pit or opening, of longitudinal and detachable supporting-timbers and adjustable and detachable supports for the load, carried by said longitudinal timbers, substantially as set forth and for the purpose specilied.

EDWARD H. BLOSSOM.

Witnesses:

C. A. RoBINsoN, GEO. W. CREE.

isv 

